Flesh to Metal Version 3
by Tactition101
Summary: Transformers Prime fic. Going from human to robo-dragon is quite an upgrade. I don't intend to follow the universe's script the way it wishes though.
1. Chapter 1

Flesh To Metal Version 3

Summary: Transformers Prime fic. Going from human to robo-dragon is quite an upgrade. I don't intend to follow the universe's script the way it wishes though.

1\. First Flight And First Fight

Story Start: Our Universe

The area around me was a mess. A blown-out tire from the front of a semi had caused it to careen out of control, taking out five different cars within the first five seconds of the accident and it had only gotten worse from there. I was on the tail end of the first twenty seconds and thanks to my pretty good reflexes had somehow managed to put my little Ford Ranger into a tail spin so that the back end had gotten crumpled and not me. Once my head had stopped ringing, I quickly got out of the cab from the passenger side and scrabbled to the side of the road, glad that I tended to stay in the fast lane whenever I went on freeways and highways simply on principle.

Screeching tires drew my attention as yet another car couldn't stop in time and I saw the mini-van slam into one of the already crumpled wrecks. Seeing the flames that started in both vehicles, I cursed before I rushed back to my truck's still open cab and flipped the back of the passenger seat forward to expose the small fire extinguisher and wonder-bar (mini crowbar) behind the seat. Grabbing both, I quickly rushed over and pulled the pin on the extinguisher, dousing the flames in its foam. Imminent explosions diverted, I helped the passengers get out of the cars only to discover that the driver of the car the mini-van had hit had his leg pinned under twisted metal. Thanking my foresight to grab the wonder-bar, I began prying the metal away from his leg, adrenalin aiding my already not so unimpressive strength and after about thirty seconds, the driver was just able to get his leg out. I had just enough time to wince at the mangled look of his ankle before I threw his left arm over my shoulder and began making my way back to the side of the road.

We were just beginning to pass the hood of my truck when yet again I heard tires screeching and I saw another car squealing as it came towards us too fast to stop. Tossing the driver the last few feet to the side of the road, I made to jump as well only to get hit by the car in the area of the driver side headlight, the force of the impact pinning me into the hood of my truck and causing my head to slam into the side of my truck directly above the wheel well and darkness filled my vision.

Scene Change: Transformers Prime Universe, Shockwave's Laboratory

I came back to awareness to see a strange sight. Yellow liquid surrounded me in a tube and outside there was a blocky figure that I could swear looked like Shockwave from the Transformers Prime tv show. I heard the fluid around me begin to drain and when it drained past my eyes giving me a clear view, I couldn't help but blinking when I saw that it WAS Shockwave. My mind raced as the fluid finished draining and the tube was lowered in its mounting allowing me to stretch out. I uncurled myself and glanced at my body, cautiously moving each limb to see what I had. Seeing a dragon body, I frowned and thought 'European style dragon, so 'Predaking', sure as hell not going to go by that ridiculous name though. Really weird form to be reincarnated as though since this isn't even close to being human.'

I focused back on the surroundings around me and leaned down to bring my head closer to Shockwave to study the Decepticon. The show did a pretty good job of depicting him although there were minor details that you just couldn't capture on a tv screen even with the show being CGI.

Shockwave reached up with his only hand and stroked the front of my face for a moment before he turned around and started walking as he said "Follow. Soundwave, I am ready." A moment later, a swirling portal opened and I followed Shockwave through, mind racing as I did my best to figure out what I should do in this situation.

I came out of the portal and did Predaking's little theatrical show just for the hell of it. I gave Starscream an evil eye and fanged grin as he backed away and said "A Predacon?! Th-they've been extinct since the beginning of Cybertronian history!"

"Indeed." Shockwave said as he walked back towards me and continued "But the specimen you see before you was bred in the laboratory." He put a hand on my left front leg as he said "Cloned from fossilized remains, which I discovered on Cybertorn."

"Shockwave, it does my spark good to see you once more _tampering_ with creation." Megatron said as he walked down the steps leading to his throne and towards me.

"Master, please keep your distance!" Starscream said and I glanced at him from the corner of my eye idly wondering if I could get away with chomping his head off before I refocused on Megatron as he got closer.

"No need for alarm, the beast is completely under my control." Shockwave said and I thought 'Oh really, and what evidence do you have of that?' I was half tempted to swipe him into the air and off the giant tower but held myself back. It hadn't even been ten minutes since I woke up in this universe and I needed a plan. I REALLY had to hold myself back mentally as Megatron got within a few feet of me and I leaned my head down to look at him. It would be so EASY to try and end this here and now but I doubted I could actually kill Megatron and still have the Cons rebuild the Omega Lock to restore Cybertron.

"Such primal magnificence." Megatron said appreciatively, not knowing how close he was to getting his head bitten off as he stared into my eyes with appreciation.

My attention was brought to Shockwave as he held up a container of energon and said "A sample of energon, from Wheeljack, spilled during the Autobot's _failed_ interrogation." He brought it close to my head and I felt instinct take over as a scanner in my eye activated causing my eye to glow brighter and giving me the unique properties of the liquid fuel and a hazy line appeared in my mind's eye showing me which way he had fled.

"Let the hunt begin." Megatron said with a grin and I took that as my cue to spread my wings. Once more relying on instinct for now, I flew out of the tower and into the sunset following the line in my mind's eye. I had a lot of thinking to do on my flight.

Time Skip: Night Time

The moon had already cleared the horizon by the time I caught up to the Wreckers. I didn't bother with any aerial tricks, simply getting into position and launching a fireball at the rock beneath the Wreckers' feet and just to the right of Wheeljack. As planned, the three dove away from where the fireball would hit and I grinned as I heard even as far away as I was Miko shouting "A dragon?! When did the cons get a dragon?!" Seeing that they had moved to where I wanted them, I flew a little higher to give them more chance to react and fired another fireball, this one straight at them to force them to split up. Once they split up, I landed directly in front of Wheeljack and growled at him.

Wheeljack let out a war cry as he started rapidly firing at me. I turned my head to let the first shots glance off its side rather than near my eyes before I raised my head out of the line of fire and swiped him into the boulder behind him with my tail. I walked forward over the still glowing crater from my second shot only to hear the sound of a bot transforming. Having expected this, I instantly jerked my head back and Bulkhead went soaring past, surprise clear in his eyes. I immediately prepared a fireball and inwardly smirked as Bulkhead let out a yelp and began running away. I fired the fireball and it detonated directly behind him sending him flying with small fires on his limbs.

"Bulkhead!" Miko shouted as she started to run towards said Wrecker. I watched her reach the big guy before I glanced around and then towards Wheeljack's call of "Looking for me, beast?!" Said swordsman looked down at the ground beneath me before up with raised eyebrows. I rolled my own eyes even as I stomped my right foot down on the beeping sound beneath me which suddenly died with a satisfying crunching sound and a VERY minor fireball escaping beneath my claws. The 'Oh, COME ON!' look on Wheeljack's face made me mentally cackle even as Bulkhead called out "We're going to need more firepower!"

"Good thing I know just where to find some!" Wheeljack called out. But just as he turned and began to run for the mine, I launched a fireball over his head and into the mine entrance and the whole joint went up in a truly impressive blue fireball. Seeing Wheeljack's shoulders slump, I glanced towards Bulkhead and Miko and saw their slack jaws causing me to lift my head to the sky and began roaring out in laughter. Getting myself under control again, I gave Wheeljack a raised eyebrow look that clearly asked him 'You didn't actually think I'd be stupid enough to do what you wanted did you?'

"Oh great, we've got a _smart_ dragon." Miko mused causing me to chuckle again before I let out a yelp as a massive bolt of energy slammed into my side sending me skidding away from Wheeljack. 'The hell? I thought I had a minute still.' I absently thought to myself as Ultra Magus' ship roared passed and shot upwards in a wide turning circuit.

I watched the ship pick up the Wreckers as I thought about pursuing or not. Deciding I'd rather not get slammed into a cliff, I let the ship go, shaking my head once before I took off and headed back to Dark Mount. The first act had passed, and now all of the actors for the second act had to get ready.


	2. Chapter 2

2\. Fossil Retrieval

For obvious reasons, it did not surprise me when less than twenty-four hours after I let Ultra Magus' ship go Dark Mount came under attack. What did actually surprise me was how easily I figured out how to keep myself from becoming a dragon ice sculpture once I'd played my part. Turns out so long as you're expecting it, a Predacon _could_ actually handle a blizzard indefinitely. Which was a real relief since I had NOT been looking forward to being stuck in place for a day or two.

I shot out of the portal, my inner fire already burning. I took just long enough to confirm that yes, my initial preparations were keeping me from flash freezing, if just barely, before I let out a tongue of flame and flew through the substantially warmer air said flame produced. Fifteen minutes later another pass-through flame heated air kept my just now cooling body warm enough to continue flight as I continued northward.

I found the Nemesis traveling over the clouds following the path of the Nile River to the Mediterranean Sea of all places. I came down on the ship's flight deck just a little harder than necessary and stomped my way towards the entrance door to announce my return. A few minutes later, the doors opened and Megatron lead a group consisting of Starscream, Shockwave, and about five vehicon drones out and I took a few steps closer to Megatron and lowered my head so that we were looking into each other's eyes.

"How did it find us?!" Starscream asked incredulously.

"Predacons have _precise_ homing instincts." Soundwave said matter of factly.

"And astonishing resilience." Megatron said with a grin before turning around and began walking back into the ship as he continued "Starscream, assume command of my beast."

"M-me master?! I mean I wouldn't _dream_ of seizing such an honor from its very creator." Starscream said nervously causing me to let the slightest of snorts out as I thought 'Yeah, and you're not rightfully terrified of me at all, are you?'

"Military command of the Predacon is most logical, since my services are required elsewhere." Shockwave said as he walked past the jet-bot, and I wasn't sure if I imagined the small amount of amusement in my creator's voice or not.

As the door closed on Starscream, I let out a growl as I walked closer and the scream of fear he let out when he spun around was most satisfying.

What was less satisfying was when Starscream gathered his courage and started demanding I 'crawl into my kennel' like some kind of dog. Naturally I ignored him, turning around and almost 'accidently' slamming him into a wall with my swishing tail as I walked half way down the flight deck and turned again before sitting down. Eventually Starscream got tired of me ignoring him and left before returning with an energon prod. Before he could even start speaking, I shot my head forward and chomped down on the prod, easily slicing it in half before spitting out hard enough to knock Starscream on his aft when it hit his forehead. He stared at the prod for a moment before he angrily got to his feet. He opened his mouth to yell some more at me only for his eyes to widen as I formed a fireball and he dropped back to the ground with a yelp as the flame passed just over him. I couldn't help the smirk on my face as he tapped out the burning part of his forehead horn and quickly went back inside.

As the door closed, I huffed to myself and thought 'No way was I going to let that cockroach zap me.' Now sure that I had a few minutes to myself, I quickly walked over to the main communications dish and transformed. A quick bit of work had me linking my communications equipment directly to the ship's com networks and I quickly 'memorized' the needed frequencies before I jacked out and transformed back into beast mode and moved to lay down in front of the door. While my coms were already working in a manner of speaking, I didn't know the exact frequency Megatron actually used when he talked to Starscream and I didn't want to take the chance of missing any ques that the Silver Gladiator would give the Bumbling Mosquito.

A short while later, I heard the door open and I opened my eyes as I heard "Ok, in you go!" Starscream was in the Apex Armor, something I was pretty sure he would grab but still a little nervous he wouldn't which would require some heavy thinking about how to keep Miko safe, and was pointing into the halls of the ship. I allowed myself to growl at the flyer with all of the aggression I felt at him as I climbed to my feet. Starscream scoffed and said "Do your worst, the Apex Armor is virtually- Ack!"

The next instant, I had Starscream's arm in my mouth and I tossed him out onto the flight deck before leaping after him. He had just enough time to get to his feet before I grabbed his other arm and threw him up into the air. What followed next was five cathartic minutes as I used tail and mouth to try and keep Starscream from hitting the deck for as long as possible. I had finally gotten to twelve when both our coms crackled and I heard "Starscream, are you with the beast?" The sound startled me enough that I missed my tail swipe and Starscream landed on the deck in a slump even as he said "Yes, Master! We've been reviewing attack maneuvers. He is doing _quite well_."

He shot me an acid glare that had me wanting to grin like a certain purple and pink cat at him though I managed to refrain as Megatron continued "One of our excavation teams has failed to report in."

"I will assemble my seeker armada immediately and-" Starscream began only to be cut off as Megatron said "I would prefer that you lead our newly returned asset on this mission, so that we may see if our Predacon is as adept at fetching bones as it is hunting Autobots."

As Megatron finished speaking, a drone came out onto the flight deck and nervously walked towards me along with two seekers. When it reached me, it held the two Predacon bone fragments we already held towards me. I lowered my head and scanned the two fragments before I stood back up and glanced to the side as a Ground Bridge appeared. I followed Starscream and his seekers through the portal and came out on a cliff right next to a familiar looking ship. I spared it only a quick glance before I shot over the cliffside and slammed onto the ground below.

Rolling my neck once, I shot into the tunnel entrance and took off at a sprint towards where I could detect Wheeljack. It only took about fifteen seconds to reach a bend that was hiding them from my sight and I ranked up the speed as I chased after their vehicle forms, nearly grabbing Ultra Magus' rear wheels before he sped up to the front of the line. Miko's call of "It's back?!" was my cue to let loose with a fire ball before I made a grab for Bulkhead, thankfully not needing to slow down any as he managed to get a little more speed in to just barely avoid my teeth. I followed them as they turned left and when I saw the chokepoint skidded to a stop and fired a fireball after them. With the Wreckers temporarily blind to my actions, I let out a few roars and slammed my body against the chokepoint a couple of times to sell the fact that I was stuck before I transformed and actually took the time to look at the chokepoint. Seeing a few cracks from my earlier efforts, I cracked my right knuckles with my left hand before I dug my claws into the rock and began tearing chunks out.

Once I had a big enough opening tore out I transformed back into beast mode and walked forward in a slow stride that would ensure Miko had had plenty of time to get out. Once I came into the room with the Wreckers and saw only Ultra Magus, I once more deviated from script, this time in a much bigger way than not just simply chasing a ship. The sight of Ultra Magus' jaw dropping when he saw me transform had me outright cackling for a moment before I stalked inwards and said "I'm going to assume that you're the pilot of that ship up on the cliff face, which means I owe you for that shot in my side you hit me with." My hands turned into guns and I shot them sideways causing the two Wreckers to let out surprised shouts and I grinned towards Wheeljack and said "And don't think I forgot about you boys either. I'm going to enjoy putting a few dings in ya. Of course, once I'm done with you three, I need to track down that organic. Loose ends and all that, I'm sure you understand, right?"

That got the desired reaction from Bulkhead who let out a yell from behind me as he broke formation. I pointedly allowed Wheeljack to see my smirk before I turned around and slammed a punch into Bulkhead's approaching right mace sending a shockwave of power out even as he was sent flying backwards from the force.

Wheeljack's cry of "Bulkhead!" preceded the sound of his energon blaster forming and I leapt to the side to avoid his first shot, turning ninety degrees to the left as I did so before I pushed off from the ground and rushed at Ultra Magus like a freight train moving to crush a Pinto whose driver had given the engineer the finger. Ultra Magus readied his hammer but just before I was in place for him to swing I took a giant leap upwards and flipped so that my feet hit the wall first and I launched myself at Ultra Magus who was recovering from his miss. I landed directly behind him in a roll that ended with me double punching the Commander's back sending him flying towards the entrance of the cavern. Turning to Wheeljack, I smirked and said "Care to try your luck with those butter knives of yours little Autobot?"

"These butter knives are going to carve you up like a turkey!" Wheeljack roared as he charged towards me. But just as he leapt at me, I grabbed his torso and spun around before I ran the short distance to the wall behind us and slammed him into it before slamming a punch into his gut making him drop his blades. I grabbed his grenade from his waist before tossing him to where the other two were preparing to charge towards us. As Bulkhead helped Wheeljack up, I pulled the pin of the grenade with a smirk before I tossed it to the center of the room, more towards them then me. If I wasn't too busy transforming into beast mode and hunkering down, Wheeljack's spark-felt "Ah, _Scrap_!" would have had me cackling.

The explosion was just as destructive as it had been in the show, dislodging at least a ton and a half of the rock making up the cavern walls. I waited until I couldn't hear any more of the bigger chunks of rock falling before I burst out of the rubble surrounding me. A quick glance showed me the hazy trail of the fossil I was tracking and I walked over to the now revealed eye.

A minute later I was in the air and saw a now armored Miko walking towards a now nervous Starscream. I was quite proud of the fact that I got the eye to hit the top of the Armor's head as I came to land on the ship. Miko running away screaming was also very satisfying to see. I briefly toyed with the idea of letting her rejoin with the rest of the Wreckers rather than the other way around before I decided that Starscream deserved to get his aft kicked and so leapt off the ship and pinned her to the ground. I gave the back of the right arm and experimental slash and when I saw it didn't even have a scratch went wild with my claws for a bit before I picked her up by the waist with my mouth and gave an experimental crush of my jaws that yielded absolutely no results whatso ever even as I listened with half an ear as Megatron called in for a status report. I refrained from flinging the Armor around like a dog with a chew toy though. No matter the fact that Miko was fine in the show, Starscream hit the sides of the Armor's head in that very same show and she wasn't made out of metal. That kind of impact could easily kill the girl and so when I 'tossed' her to the ground it was more roughly putting her down rather than dropping.

"I'll tear you apart!" Miko yelled and I took that as my cue to use my fire, the widened eyes behind the visor a satisfying look on the girl's face as I 'tried' to roast her like a potato wrapped in foil stuck in a camp fire. I kept it up only long enough for Megatron to finish giving his orders to Starscream before I cut off my flame and turned my currently airborne form towards Starscream.

I took great pleasure in knocking him to the ground and growling at him before I grabbed the eye in my teeth and took off into the air, not bothering to keep the smirk off my face when I heard Starscream call out "What?! But you never listen to _my_ commands!"

As I flew on back to the Nemesis, I considered everything I had achieved today. Miko had managed to secure the Apex Armor for the Autobots and the Wreckers now knew that we Predacons could in fact turn into bots and so weren't non-sentient creatures and therefore were likely to at least hesitate when Wheeljack and Ultra Magus found my soon to be made brothers. Of course, if I could arrange to be there at the same time things would be even better but the saying of hope for the best and prepare for the worst was the motto I planned to live the next few weeks by. Now I just had to crush the Nemesis' primary communications array in a way that would have Megatron mad at Starscream rather than me.


	3. Chapter 3

3\. Throwing Away The Script

Brief Author's Notes: Due to how little involvement Predaking had in Plus One and absolutely none in Thirst, I'm skipping those two and going straight to Evolution.

Story Start: Nemesis, Holding Position Over Shockwave's Laboratory

So, good news first I suppose. I had been able to keep June and Fowler from being brought aboard the Decepticon war ship and so hadn't had to 'break cover' as it were to get them to safety. Bad news, the last eight days had been absolutely boring with nothing for me to do. Thankfully my boredom was about to come to an end.

It was currently raining hard enough to create mini waterfalls off the cliff face the Nemesis was hovering over. I was perched on one of the ship's wings when I saw Megatron and Starscream leave her and head down to the ground. I waited until Knockout began descending in the cargo lift before I took off and followed. When I reached the lab, I walked through the rows of my brothers, (And probably a sister or too as well) until I stopped halfway through as Starscream came up with a pipe that was NOT in his hand before. I didn't bother wondering where he got it though, since I was looking forward to what I was about to do.

Starscream scowled as he said "Unruly beast! You dare roam around without permission?" I let him get one good hit in before I roared and shot my head forward, grabbing his right foot in my mouth before I hauled back and up throwing him into the air causing him to drop the pipe. As he started to flip backwards I transformed and grabbed the same foot with my left hand. The look on Megatron and Knockout's faces were at least twice as satisfying in real life as on the screen but I only took a moment to note them before I focused back on Starscream and began rubbing the sharp points on my right fingers together menacingly creating sparks as I said "Now that I've finally figured out how to switch forms and thus speak in a manner you can understand, let me make one thing perfectly clear here Starscream. You try to hit me again with any pipes or energon prods and I will shove both of my hands into your spark chamber before ripping you in half. Am I clear?"

"P-perfectly clear." Starscream squeaked in fear before letting out a yelp as I released him and he fell landing head first on the ground as I walked past and towards the other three. Knock Out took a sensible step back as I approached but I paid him little attention as I took a knee in front of Megatron and said "Lord Megatron, I, Predalpha, the first of the newest generation of Predacons hereby formally pledge my strength to the Decepticon cause."

Megatron studied me for a moment before he said "Arise Predalpha, you have served me well so far and I gladly accept your pledge." As I rose up, he continued "I find myself rather pleased that you have discovered your ability to transform my warrior. It means that you and your brethren will be even more important to our cause."

I was about 58% sure that he was lying through his teeth. Still, if I could play my cards right, I could be here when the Autobots first showed up and potentially keep my fellow Predacons from being blown up. Nodding, I turned to Shockwave and said "How soon will my fellow Predacons be ready to join us Creator?"

"They will be fully combat capable in three solar cycles." Shockwave said.

"Thank you, Creator." I said before turning back to Megatron and said "My lord, if it pleases you, I would like to be here when they awaken."

"Of course! I wouldn't dream of having you anywhere else when the time comes." Megatron said agreeably before gesturing to the exit of the lab as he said "But let us continue this discussion back on the ship. We wouldn't want to distract Shockwave from his very important task."

I nodded and said "Of course, my lord."

Scene Change: Nemesis

As we walked down one of the hallways, I cocked my head and said "Lord Megatron, have you considered how me and my brethren will integrate into your army now that you know we can properly follow the chain of command?"

"I have had some ideas. Your tone says that you have thoughts on this matter as well." Megatron said, and it DEFINITELY felt like a probing question to me.

I gave a slight nod and said "I believe that my brethren and I should be placed into teams of two, with whoever is left over placed under your direct command as our Executive Officer. One team will always be on standby in order to be deployed whenever Decepticon forces encounter the Autobots while the rest can be assigned to guard important locations. I believe these guard positions should include our Creator's off-site laboratory, the top three energon producing mines and finally a pair dedicated to the safety of you and your Chief Officers while out in the field."

Behind us Starscream scoffed and said "Lord Megatron does not need a bodyguard."

I looked over my shoulder with a raised eyebrow and said "Do you actually believe that or are you allowing your beliefs about me to cloud your judgement?"

When Megatron turned his head to study Starscream with a single optic as well the Seeker sputtered out a response that had Megatron rolling his optics as he turned his head back forward. Giving a nod, he said "Your proposal has merit. I noticed though that you did not claim the Executive Officer post for your own."

"I simply do not know if one of my brethren would be better suited for the task or not lord Megatron, it is something that we shall have to determine once they are ready to join the rest of us. I am actually hoping that I can remain available to do battle with the Autobots, it seems more fun than being a data pusher." I said with a slightly feral grin and Megatron seemed to accept it with a nod.

The rest of the walk was mostly silent, Megatron led the way to the bridge where he had Soundwave give me a tour of the remainder of the ship. I was about ninety percent sure Megatron was having his little 'evolution will lead to revolution' meeting but I couldn't really do anything about that and so I instead simply gave Soundwave my entire attention as he showed me everything important on the ship.

Time Skip: Ten Hours Later

I was currently back in Shockwave's lab listening to his detailed explanation of his cloning procedure. It not only kept him in my sight but also allowed me to remain rather close to him if the Autobots arrived anytime soon. I will admit that at this point in time, I still wasn't one hundred percent sure about what plan of action I would take. If my future comrades were actually allowed to live by Megatron then I could possibly take over the Decepticons from the inside which would open a whole new avenue of options. However, if the Autobots did show up before they were ready then that would show that Megatron really was afraid of a coupe, which obviously I WAS planning to initiate at some point since the guy not only WOULD but HAD taken a crack at the Earth itself with an Omega Lock, and I would have to act right then and there to keep my fellow Predacons safe. Hopefully a gift of a whole squadron of Predacons that would hopefully follow my lead would smooth the way of joining their ranks. That or I could just go all medieval on the world and burn fields down and destroy the modern version of castles, after the boredom of the last week it was about an even three-way split really.

Fortunately for the world's crop populations, I spotted a certain Wrecker and Forge wielding Second in Command just coming into sight. Scowling very briefly at confirmation that Megatron had betrayed us even with me not making any overt claims of wanting to lead an army of my own, I formed a gun in my right hand and gave Wheeljack a very deliberate wink before I purposefully shot at a point ten feet in front of the Wrecker while shouting "Creator, we have been compromised!"

"What?!" Shockwave asked jerking his head up in surprise.

I fired a second shot, this one towards Ultra Magus, and this one equally far from hitting him, something I could get away with since according to Shockwave's knowledge I had never fired my weapons before. As I did so, I pushed him behind cover and said "Get out of here Creator, without you, more of my kind cannot be created, I shall cover your retreat and then deal with these intruders!"

"Understood." Shockwave said, and I probably wasn't imagining hearing the small hint of relief that I was sending him away as he continued "Soundwave, I require an immediate Ground Bridge."

A Ground Bridge appeared directly behind him and he took a quick moment to type in a command into his work console before he bolted through and it closed. As soon as it was closed, I gave a sigh and quickly canceled the order he had typed in stopping the waking process of my fellow Predacons. It would not be wise to try to negotiate with the Autobots while my brethren tried to escape the growing tanks holding them. Now reasonably sure the Autobots wouldn't do anything rash, I called down the line of tanks towards where they were taking cover "Alright, he's gone, we can talk freely now!"

There was a moment of silence, which I was sure was the two Bots trading 'Is he serious?' looks with each other before Wheeljack called back "You don't think we'd actually fall for that do you?"

"Why not?" I asked before I walked out of cover with my arms held away from my body and continued "After all, I've never actually fought you with intent to kill in our previous engagements."

"Never with intent to kill?! You threw a grenade at us!" Wheeljack said hotly, appearing halfway out of cover to glare at me.

"No, I threw a grenade into the center of the room so that way I could find my brethren's source material without having to fight you at the same time. I was reasonably certain you three would survive." I said calmly.

"Listen you!" Wheeljack started before Ultra Magus said "Wheeljack, that's enough." The Wrecker glowered at Ultra Magus and crossed his arms but didn't say anything as the Commander turned towards me and said "You said you wanted to talk Predacon, so talk."

I crossed my own arms and said "The chances of you Autobots discovering this place just before my brethren were ready to come online are incredibly low. And if you HAD discovered it on your own, then there certainly wouldn't only be two of you here, you ALL would have come in guns blazing. Clearly, you were LEAD here which means that someone very high up in the Decepticon chain of command wanted my kind destroyed, possibly even Megatron himself. I cannot fight for a cause that has clearly betrayed me and my brethren. Therefore, I wish to now fight for you. I am sure my brethren will agree with me when they come online."

" _I certainly will."_ A voice was heard, not out loud, but in our HEADS.

All three of us stiffened and Wheeljack was understandably nervous as he said "I'm not the only one to hear that right?"

As the three of us looked for the source, I said "No, I heard it too, though I don't think 'heard' is the right word for it. Where did it come from though?"

" _Where do you think it came from brother?"_ The voice asked with a definite tone of amusement in it.

"Brother?" I asked with a cocked head before my optics widened and I looked around with an understanding look and said "Well now, it seems at least one of my brethren is telepathic." Continuing mentally, I thought 'If I called you a Cybertronian equivalent of Mewtwo, would you understand the reference?'

" _I have refrained from looking THAT deep into your memories brother."_ The voice sent, and somehow I could tell it was speaking to me privately before it sent 'out loud' _"My brother is correct, Megatron was rather upset learning that his army of beasts were capable of higher thought. I have no problem believing that he would have ordered our termination before we could_ possibly _become a threat to his faction."_

"Which one are you exactly, can you tell me, and how are you speaking while offline while we're at it?" I asked.

" _Fifth tank from the control console, and I'm not quite certain. All I know is that I have been able to sense the thoughts and emotions of others for some time now. It was very strange at first."_ The voice said and I followed its directions to see a Gryphon Predacon in the stated tube. A gryphon which seemed just as dead to the world as the others.

I was reminded of the Autobot's presence when Ultra Magus said "Wheeljack, go to the cave exit and bring Optimus Prime and the others here. He must be informed of what is happening."

"Aye-aye chief." Wheeljack said giving me and the others one last look before transforming and peeling out.

Ultra Magus opened his mouth to say something but stopped when I held up my right hand in the universal sign to stop and cocked my head as I heard over my coms "Predalpha, status report, have you dealt with the Autobot invaders?"

I shifted my hand into a blaster and shot it up into the ceiling even as I said "Not yet Lord Megatron, they are proving rather…" I gave five more rapid shots before I continued "Vexing."

"I see, Autobots usually are, do you require aid?" Megatron asked as I continued firing.

I let out a roar as I turned around and rushed forwards before ramming into the back wall of the lab causing the ground to shudder before I said "Wouldn't recommend sending others here my lord, I might hit them accidently." I let out another six shots to sell my point.

"Understood, good luck Predalpha, I look forward to hearing word of your success." Megatron said and the com line went dead.

I gave a sigh as I turned my blaster back into a hand and walked back towards Ultra Magus as I said "Hopefully there aren't any cameras that Soundwave can use to see that I was lying just now. I'd rather not have Megatron send a bunch of Decepticons here while my brethren are still offline."

" _Yeah, I don't want them here either."_ My psychic brother sent in agreement.

"Indeed." Ultra Magus said with narrowed optics before we all turned towards the lab entrance as we heard multiple revving engines.

The rest of the Autobots came in at full speed, transforming with blasters out and pointed at me. I gave them a raised eyebrow and said "Does it look like I'm trying to hurt your fellow Autobot?"

Optimus put away his weapons as he said "My apologies, but we heard blaster fire and assumed a fight had broken out."

"Nope, just making Megatron think one had when he called in." I said before turning my gaze towards Ratchet as he began walking along the line of growing tanks with the eager light in his optics of a scientist impressed with the work of another.

"Remarkable. Being able to bring the specimens to full growth in less than two weeks, truly remarkable." The medic said with a little bit of awe mixed into his voice.

" _You think that's fascinating, consider the fact that one of us has been aware of the world for just over six days even without coming online once."_

I let out a smirk as all of the Autobots sans Ultra Magus and Wheeljack jerked at the 'sound' of my brethren's voice. "Quite a surprise the first time ain't it?" I said cheerfully.

"A Techno Psychic." Ratchet breathed out in awe before he quickly moved towards Shockwave's work station, I assumed to go through his notes to see if the mad doctor had known about that ability of one of his creations.

Glancing at the gryphon, I said "You know, I still don't know what to call you."

There was silence for a brief period of time before he said _"Skyrunner seems to fit for some reason, you may call me that."_

I gave a nod at that and mentally thought 'Skyrunner it is, we'll need to talk more in depth later. For right now I need to ensure you and the others are actually allowed to come on line.' I waited just long enough to get an affirmative from Skyrunner before I turned back towards Optimus and said "Optimus Prime, I Predalpha, or Alpha for short, as the first Predacon to come on line, I hereby surrender myself and my brethren to your care, with the hope that you would allow us to join your team in their efforts against the Decepticons."

All of the Autobots looked towards Optimus and the big bot was silent for a moment before he said "I would gladly accept your offer. Unfortunately, our energon reserves are at an all-time low, and without a new source we will not be able to sustain such a large roster."

"THAT won't be a problem." I said with a smirk and crossed my arms in the classic bad ass stance as I continued "Predacons have excellent tracking abilities. Give us a chance to scan an Energon cube and we'll be able to lead you to any energon source on this planet, no matter how well hidden."

"That will certainly be useful." Bulkhead said with a grin.

"Indeed Bulkhead." Optimus said with a nod before he turned towards me and walked over with an extended hand and said "Welcome to the Autobots Predalpha."

"Thanks for having me. If you don't mind though, I'd REALLY like to get my brethren out of those growth tanks and out of here before Megatron decides he needs to send backup after all. Also, I believe that cache of synthetic energon over there should provide quite the cover of the survival of me and my brethren."

"I'm always game for big booms." Wheeljack said with a grin before everyone looked up at the cables as Ratchet started his work and electricity visibly began pouring through them. (Which did NOT look safe to me. The only time THAT happened where I was from was when a cable was badly cut and the electricity was lashing out at anything around it.) Strangely enough, or maybe not given his abilities, Skyrunner was the first to snap his eyes open. He took a few seconds to look around with his optics as the fluid drained from his tube before he gave a screech and flared his wings shattering the tube and quickly joining us.

Once with us, he gave a great big stretching motion of all of his limbs and sent with a mental sigh _"Ah, it's good to finally be able to move around."_ He suddenly transformed and gave another full body stretch, his joints actually creaking this time before he gave a passable imitation of a hand to forehead salute towards Optimus and verbally said "Skyrunner reporting for duty."

"Welcome Skyrunner." Optimus said. Anything further had to be held off as all of the growth tanks finished draining at that point and their tubes slid open. There was a wary moment as we entered a Mexican standoff with the other Predacons before Skyrunner quickly broke it as he transformed and psychically filled everyone in, me transforming with him to show that I was also one of them.

Once we were sure none of the Predacons were going to attack the Autobots, I watched Wheeljack set his grenade on a five minute timer and Optimus had Raphael open a ground bridge to a place that could actually hold thirty Cybertronians and still keep them hidden. (Which I would later find out was the fabled 'lost' Sarah Ann Island.) The Predacons quickly rushed through followed by the Autobots. I was the last through, giving the cavern and more specifically the cache of Synthetic Energon one last glance before I ducked through, _hoping_ that the explosion only needed the yellow growth fluid to create the metallic mass of chaos from the show and that the Cons would actually make the Omega Gate without me to help at the South Pole. For now though, I had to help my brothers get settled in and then we needed to go on a serious scavenger hunt.

END

Author's Notes: Man, this story gave me SO much trouble. Thankfully I managed to finish and give one last check through three and a half hours before midnight, but by PRIMUS was it CLOSE. I'm glad I did finish though because I would have HATED not being able to make my New Year's Resolution ten months in, when the finish line was in metaphorical sight. Anyway, back to the trouble, first, I was going to have Shockwave captured, then I remembered there'd be no way for the Cons to rebuild the Omega Lock. Then I considered having Predalpha remain with the Cons, (And god that name still makes me cringe, but I'm not using Tac again) but then WHY would Megatron think about remaking the Lock? I've been tempted from the start to actually have Predalpha ago solo but I figure that can be another version, 3B, if I ever get to it. Moving on, yes, Skyrunner's a thing again in this one. He sort of wrote himself in when I was stuck and so I figured, hey, why not? Anyway, one last thing. This is the last week when you can vote in the Marching With The King poll on my profile. As soon as I post Engineer's next story, I'll be deleting the poll and bringing back the One Shot Poll. (Spoiler alert: Stoik is going to just about have a heart attack when he gets home. Insert Mad Cackling now.) Well, that's all from me, see you next week guys.


	4. Chapter 4

4\. Playing Robin Hood

Optimus didn't waste any time to put his new assets to proper work. We had barely gotten a massive field cleared and our own quickly acquired ten generator powered Ground Bridge control station set up on Sarah Ann Island before we were all given an Energon cube to scan. While we had been working on a place to hide our spoils, Ratchet had quickly made a bunch of communications jammers like what they had used when they took the Cons' Space Bridge in the Orion Pax arc and handed them out. Megatron would not be learning of my deception from any of the miners we were about to put into the scrap heap.

As soon as we had finished our scans, every single Predacon except for Skyrunner scattered, the Techno Psychic monitoring all of us in order to both coordinate our strikes and to know when to open a Ground Bridge for us to begin bringing back our ill-gotten gains. Those of us with wings flew while those that were land bound were quickly ground bridged to remote locations on the other side of the planet where they would track down the closest mine to their drop off point before moving on.

My first target was an Energon Mine twenty miles north of La Paz, Mexico. It was about average in size but incredibly rich in the blue stuff. As I flew overhead my entire vision was a smoky blue showing my target was densely packed into a mostly circular shape. The densest part was obviously the Energon storage vault of the mine and I made a note of its location as I flew down to the ground to look for its entrance. Ten minutes later, there were two dead vehicon drones on the ground behind me as I stalked through the mine entrance in bot mode.

It took me half an hour to be sure that every miner and security guard in the mine was killed. The task only took so long because I didn't want to chance one of my shots hitting the surrounding Energon so I stuck with the wicked scimitar like blades on my hands. This had allowed me to sneak up on quite a few miners who hadn't thought to look up at my slightly louder but confident sounding steps, assuming that I was meant to be there and so hadn't checked, a fatal mistake. The guards were slightly harder to eliminate but thankfully there had only been ten of them spread throughout the mine, and they walked single person patrols too so no battle managed to spread.

With the cons dead, I quickly loaded the energon in the storage vault onto carts that the waiting Autobots on Sarah Ann island pushed through and in turn unloaded when they were pushed back. That done, I made sure that the location of the mine was properly logged into my memory for future mining once the Autobots had time for it before I left and tracked down the next mine, Skyrunner directing me so that I avoided reaching a mine that was either already robbed or currently under attack by my brethren.

This pattern of seek and plunder continued for two days until the Autobots got an alert that there was an in-progress smash and grab by the Cons that they left the island to stop. Less than ten minutes later word that they had captured Soundwave reached us. In response to this we stopped our robberies in order to be on hand for when the Autobots learned about just what the Decepticons were planning with their own illegal scavenger hunt.

I wanted to be there for when Laserbeak reconnected with Soundwave but Optimus had firmly told us Predacons to stay off site while they interrogated the Mech Without a Face. Something about keeping our continued survival hidden from the communications chief 'just in case'. Couldn't say I disagreed with that given what I knew so instead I was forced to wait with the others 'twiddling my thumbs', helping the others properly stack our ill gotten gains into something other than a bunch of 'toss 'em and leave 'em' stacks that the Autobots had to make with the constant influx of new cubes during the last forty eight hours.

It was another six hours when we got the call from Optimus that Ratchet had been taken. Naturally, the Autobots were scrabbling for any leads when I invited myself and Skyrunner over. Taking this all in, as we walked through the hangar doors I gave the Cybertronian equivalent of a sharp whistle and said "HEY!" When all of the Bots turned towards us, I raised an eyebrow and said "You guys wound me. Here you are with a squadron of superb trackers on your side and you're trying to get answers from a shot off piece of Mini Con."

There was a brief moment of confusion before relieved understanding replaced worry as Optimus stepped forward and said "You can locate Megatron's war ship?"

Without even having to look, I pointed North by Northeast towards Indiana and said in a deadpanned voice "It's that way." Several pairs of optics and eyes blinked at that and Skyrunner began snickering to himself. Ignoring them, I continued "So shall we go now Optimus, or do you want to wait for your Energon muffins to finish baking?"

That had Skyrunner outright laughing even as the two of us walked back out of the hangar in order to transform. Not even fifteen seconds later, Optimus joined us and we quickly took flight to track down the Nemesis.

END

Author's Notes: I apologize for the shortness of this chapter, for the couple of episodes this covers there wasn't a lot for the Predacons to do. Next chapter _should_ be the final battle though.

Update Schedule is on my profile, and there is a poll that I would REALLY like you guys to look at that will be closed on 2/11/18


	5. Chapter 5

5\. The Final Act

Story Start: En Route To The Nemesis, Low Earth Orbit

I led Skyrunner and Optimus through the air in a v formation, and five miles above us at a forty five degree angle was the Nemesis. Glancing back over my shoulder, I thought 'You sure they can't see us?'

'They haven't opened fire or launched flyers yet have they?' Skyrunner asked, a small but detectable strain in his mental voice as he kept the warship's sensors from picking us up using his Techno Psychic abilities. He was even keeping the Vehicons working on the rebuilt Omega Lock from noticing us. Speaking of which…

'Any idea how far along they are on that thing?' I asked.

Skyrunner gave a mental hum before he sent 'I _think_ that their almost done, just putting in a few minor details. They can't actually use the thing until they start making the fuel though.'

'That is good news. It means we still have time before Megatron can attack the Earth.' Optimus sent.

I hid a wince and sent back 'True, but if they haven't figured out how to MAKE said fuel, then the Omega Lock is useless to us.'

'One moment.' Skyrunner requested and Optimus and I fell 'silent' as we came ever closer to the warship holding a _whole lot_ of enemies. A tense forty five seconds later, Skyrunner sent 'Ratchet believes they have what is necessary, he's planning to make a distraction and try to escape with a sample.'

'Tell him to belay that action.' Optimus quickly sent and there was a pause before Ratchet's hopeful 'voice' could be heard as he thought 'Optimus?'

I let out a sigh of relief as Optimus sent back 'I am here old friend, as are Predalpha and Skyrunner. We are currently on final approach to the Decepticon Warship.'

' _Thank the All Spark.'_ Ratchet's spark felt praise came before he turned serious and sent 'Optimus, Megatron intends to use the Omega Lock on the EARTH as a test!'

'Then that seems like the first thing we should secure.' I logically pointed out.

'Indeed Predalpha.' Optimus sent.

'So give them five minutes to finish before we start knocking heads together?' Skyrunner suggested.

'Can you keep us hidden for that long with us so close?' Optimus asked.

'Shouldn't be a problem if we hide in the shadow of one of the wings.' Skyrunner confidently stated and I immediately altered my course just the slightest bit so that way we would come in behind one of said wings, the other two following.

As we came in for a landing, Optimus continued the conversation as he sent 'Ratchet, we shall need to know the full synthetic energon formulae, not only to fuel the Omega Lock, but also for after Cybertron is restored.'

'I shall see what I can do. Just don't take too long, Megatron flat out admitted that as soon as this little science project is complete then I'm going to be scrapped.' Ratchet sent back dryly.

I frowned and sent 'Skyrunner, now that we're on the ship and hidden from view, do you think you can reach Ratchet without being spotted?'

'If it's just me I need to worry about? No problem. I can probably even get the whole formulae out of Shockwave's oblong head while I'm at it.' The Gryphon sent confidently.

We both looked at Optimus who barely took a minute to think before he nodded and sent 'Please do so Skyrunner, but remember to be careful as well as quick.'

Skyrunner gave a nonchalant salute before he pushed off of the wing and shot towards an access point on the same deck Ratchet was being kept. Optimus and I settled ourselves in a position where we were cloaked in the shadow the wing we were on cast but also in a good spot to watch the Vehicons working on the Omega Lock.

In some weird twist of fate, Skyrunner's idea of waiting five minutes seemed rather close to spot on. Four minutes after he had suggested it, all but a few of the Vehicons had left the Omega Lock, with those three leaning against the support pillars in clear 'lazing about now that the job is done' poses. Seeing this, I glanced over at Optimus and cocked my head at the lock. The Prime nodded and we climbed further up the wing before we began climbing along the underside of the ship to literally get the drop on them.

The two Vehicons we chose died quick but messy deaths as the much larger Optimus and I slammed down onto them. The third Vehicon didn't even get a chance to activate his coms before a yellow and a blue bolt of energy both slammed into his torso sending his smoking corpse drifting away on a course that was already noticeably falling down to Earth. I only took long enough to make a quick bit of calculation of the angle of his decent to make sure it would land in the Pacific Ocean rather than the western coast of the Continental US that we were starting to pass over before I nodded to myself and looked towards Optimus who seemed to be doing something similar given how a moment later he too looked up from the falling corpse. When our optics met, I jerked my head up in question and he nodded so I transformed and flew back towards the bottom of the ship, the Prime activating his flight tech to do the same.

Once we were back over the lock, Optimus found a control switch for the iris door above us and activated it. When that happened, I WISHED that Vehicons had 'normal' faces like the rest of us Cybertronians because I'm sure the faces they would have made at the sight of Optimus and I quickly flying in would have been PRICELESS! As Optimus cut loose with his rotary gun, I bull rushed the group and used my jaws and tail to take out my group of drones. Once the last body had fallen, I transformed into my bot mode and said "Well that was easy."

Optimus chose to ignore me as he turned on his coms link and sent "Rafael, we have breached the war ship and have secured the immediate area. Lock onto our coordinates and open a Ground Bridge."

A brief moment later the bridge appeared and the Autobots and Predacons poured out. The room with a giant hole in its middle quickly became a lot more crowded until Arcee used the door switch on this side, the two wheeler being the closest to it. Once everyone had regrouped near the entrance into the rest of the ship assignments were given: Wreckers, Ultra Magus and two Predacons to the bridge, Smokescreen was to lead me and Optimus to the storage vault to reclaim the Star Saber and all of the other artifacts lost on Cybertron, Arcee and Bumblebee were to follow Skyrunner's projected directions to his and Ratchet's position to help provide support in keeping the medic safe, the rest of the Predacons were on distraction detail, spreading throughout the ship and causing as much wide spread damage to the Nemesis' crew roster as possible.

Said last group of Predacons were the first ones out the door, barreling down both directions of the corridor like a prehistoric mythological stampede. Both groups were quickly at intersections within seconds and the stampedes split into small groups of tanks rushing through an area with intent to do as much damage to the enemy as possible, they would continue to separate further as they reached more intersecting corridors.

Optimus gave them a full minute before he nodded at the rest of us and he ran out of the room before transforming, Smokescreen immediately doing the same and easily pulling into a leading position. I once more went Beast Mode and trailed behind them.

The way to the storage vault was clear; the only enemies we encountered were the vault's guards themselves, and they quickly fell from Optimus' missiles that he had launched from all the way down the hall as soon as he had a clear view of them. Needless to say, they _hadn't_ had a chance to report our position.

Optimus and Smokescreen went into the vault while I stood guard outside. A few moments later the sound of a Ground Bridge appearing came from inside and I correctly assumed that the two were sending most of the contents back to Unit E headquarters. It made sense, we couldn't exactly bring everything with us for distribution purposes given how large the ship was, but we couldn't just _leave_ anything behind either. Therefore, a quick toss through a Ground Bridge in order to 'lighten the load' was in order.

Of course, this couldn't just be a simple smash and grab. Barely thirty seconds after the Ground Bridge had opened, Megatron literally came flying down the hall. At a quick guess, he wanted his Dark Star Saber to deal with the Predacons taking out his crew, just like in the show. He transformed a 'safe' distance away from me and scowled as he said "Predalpha, I _knew_ you would betray me."

Shifting into Bot Mode myself, I crossed my arms with a severe frown on my face and said "One cannot betray their faction when said faction turns on them first. You allowed the Autobots to discover the location of my brethren while they were still offline. And for what? Just because we were stronger than your original forces? You had us made to be Super Soldiers Megatron, but when the slightest chance that you couldn't control us showed up, you tried to wipe us out. That showed that unlike Optimus, you are not a proper leader so is it any wonder I would make an executive decision that it would be better for the Predacons to switch sides?" My frown turned into a slasher grin and I said "But enough talk, I'm going tear your traitorous hide to shreds!"

Quickly shifting back into Beast Mode, I launched a fireball right at Megartron's face. I was satisfied to see his eyes widened even as he dropped on his knees to avoid said fireball. That was alright though, it was just a distraction so that way I could get in close. I took five running steps before I pounced on Megatron with a loud roar. Megatron managed to stop my jaws from snapping around his head though he visibly struggled to keep them both open and away from his head. I kept him busy with that even as I raised up a foot and slashed at his chest. Megatron let out a satisfying shout of pain before he somehow managed to get his legs under me and kick me off of him. I skidded a little when I landed and growled at him before I had to turn my head to avoid the blaster bolt he shot at it. The next instant, he was right in front of me and his arm blade bounced off of the arm I had hastily raised over my flame generating chamber. Letting off an evil chuckle at the quick wide eyed look he gave his blade, I smacked him into the corridor wall. He stood up with a vicious growl before he spotted something behind me and an actual look of fear appeared on his face. I'm sure that if he was a human right now then he'd be paler than a ghost.

I found out what had him so scared when Optimus shot over my shoulder on his jet pack, Star Saber in hand. The Last Prime let out a war cry as he came down with an overhand swing. Megatron seemingly instinctively brought his arm blade up to block only for the Star Saber to easily slice not only through that but _him_ as well.

As Optimus stood up from the crouch he had landed in, the two pieces of Megatron fell to either side and thudded onto the ground leaking purple Energon and my eyes widened as I transformed and said " _Damn_ , that thing went through him like he was made out of paper rather than metal!"

" _No way…"_ Smokescreen said with awe in his voice as he walked over and saw the two halves of Megatron.

Optimus was silent for a heavy moment before he gave a heavy sigh and turned away from the one who he had once called brother. Facing us, his optics held a firm look as he said "There are still many more enemies on board this vessel, we must carry on."

"Yes sir." Smokescreen and I said and we immediately fell in on either side of Optimus' rear as he lead the charge down the hallway.

Time Skip: Thirty Minutes Later

The remainder of the fight had been brutal. Once Skyrunner had ripped the Synthetic Energon formulae from Shockwave's mind, he had been put into a forced shut down by the techno psychic. And I do mean literally ripped, he no longer knew the formulae on the off chance he managed to escape capture. With the cyclops out of action, there was no one to make Starscream retreat, and therefore, when Skyrunner broadcast the death of Megatron over the PA system, he went all Avenging Second in Command and riled up the Vehicon troopers to fight even harder. That vengeance only got him a pair of claws in his chest then split in half like his Master when he tried to attack us. I won't lie, a bigger part of me than there should have been had been satisfied at following through with my threat.

When the dust cleared, the only living Cybertronian bearing the symbol of the Decepticons was a knocked out Shockwave, the actual Knock Out who had made the unilaterally _smart_ decision and immediately surrendered when faced with a Predacon in front of his lab, and Soundwave, who the kids had STILL wound up trapping in the Shadow Zone. Three Decepticons, out of a crew that had been just under three hundred strong. It was a solemn thought to how vicious war really was.

But regardless of the fight's brutality, the fact remained: The ship, and therefore the Omega Lock hanging from underneath, was ours. And unlike in the show, we had the formulae for the Synthetic Energon meaning we would have more than enough to return Cybertron to its pre war condition. Optimus still had us fire the first 'shot' of cyber-matter into the Well of All Sparks, and therefore into Primus' core, not that I could blame him. The sight of the dead world having its 'veins' glow a healthy blue color was truly a sight to see.

Over the next few days, the Nemesis would proceed to do several orbits along the latitude lines of the planet, firing the Lock several times as it went in order to bring Cybertron's cities back to their original state. But before that had happened, Bumblebee's ceremony granting him the rank of Warrior had happened, this time at the Well to accommodate not only all of us Predacons, but also the human members of Team Prime as well, the five humans decked out in the same type of suits that Jack had worn the first time he had been on Cybertron.

When the final shot of cyber matter had been launched by me, (We had all taken turns at 'pushing the big red button') I let out a contended sigh and said "Cybertron's Fully restored, Megatron's body is out of Unicron's grasp, and there are more than three Predacons here, not a bad end result, not bad at all." I walked away from the open cargo door and back into the bowels of the ship, a literally shiny new Cybertron glowing behind me. Yes, this HAD turned out rather well. Now we just had to find that damn spider and all would be perfect. But that could wait until tomorrow, she wasn't going anywhere after all, and we had plenty of time now.

END

Author's Notes: Update Schedule and Poll on my Profile.

Whew, I finally have another of my Flesh to Metal stories completed. Ironically it's the Third Version, but I don't really care, because NEW STORY SLOT OPEN! YAY! (Pinkie Pie just used her party canon in the back of my mind.)

I'm going to update the Poll to ask you guys (and gals) if you think that Jack O' Lantern should be that new story or if I should add another story to my roster as well. (JOL is STILL being put up regardless, this is just asking if you want ANOTHER new story as well.) The selection will be from my Potential Story List so make sure you have a reread of that before voting. But for now, I'm OUT, Peace!


End file.
